At Facebook Connect 2021 today, the company announced it will be releasing a new Quest for Business program that’s rebooting its enterprise-focused VR software by bringing its growing suite of business tools to the consumer version of Quest 2, which you can buy from anywhere.
Facebook will be allowing what it calls ‘Work Accounts’ for Quest 2, which will be selectable alongside personal Facebook accounts for standard VR gameplay.
The Work Account login is said to be a “business-only login” that lets work-focused Quest 2 users collaborate with coworkers and access productivity apps like the recently released Horizon Workrooms, Spatial, ENGAGE, Gravity Sketch and more from the Oculus Store—all without using personal Facebook account details or avatars.
Quest for Business is slated to let companies access dedicated platform functions like account management, mobile device management (MDM) solutions, SSO integration, and will also work with thing like Facebook Business Manager and Portal later this year.
The new program heads into closed beta later this year, and will expand to select businesses in 2022. The company says it hopes to launch Quest for Business to all interested companies sometime in 2023.
It’s not clear whether it will be offered under a subscription pricing model. Whatever the case may be, it at least seems the startup cost for hardware will be greatly reduced, as the Quest 2 base model (128GB) only costs $300.
In the meantime, Facebook says it will be winding down its previous Quest for Business program later this year. The original Quest for Business hardware was physically identical to the consumer headset, however it was priced at $800 and didn’t have access to the consumer Oculus Store. Under the old system, the Oculus Quest 2 enterprise SKU arrived with an extended two-year warranty, one year of the Oculus for Business software platform, and premium support.
A Facebook spokesperson told Road to VR that current Oculus for Business customers and independent software vendors (ISVs) have “several options” once the company entirely replaces it with the rebooted version.
Business customers will be able to migrate their headsets to the consumer version if they’re interested to take part in the upcoming Quest for Business beta periods. There’s also the option to simply continue using Oculus for Business without any changes, including enterprise-level support and warranties for Oculus for Business in accordance with the company’s Enterprise Use Agreement. An expanded FAQ will be published on the company’s business-facing website which should give deeper explanation.
